LB 
1179 

W<bSg 


Wiggin 
The  Girl  and  the  Kingdom 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 

Richard  Petrie 


THE  GIRL 

and 

HE  KINGDOM 


rt  D0UGUO  wean: 


The  Girl  and 
the  Kingdom 

LEARNING  TO  TEACH 

■_  \WRITTEN  BY, = 

KATE  DOUGLAS  WIGGIN 


Presented  to  the 

Los  Angeles  City  Teachers  Club 

to  Create  an  Educational  Fund 

to  Be  Used  in  Part  for  the 

Literacy  Campaign  of 

The  California  Federation  of 
Women's  Clubs 


Cover  Designed  by  Miss  INeleta  Hain 

I 


THE      BULLETIN 

Published  monthly  as  a  convenient  means  of  communica- 
tion between  the  Executive  Board  and  the  Members. 


Fifty  Cents  per  Year  Three  Years  for  One  Dollar 

CLUB  HEADQUARTERS:  TRINITY  BUILDING.    TELEPHONES,  60771,  MAIN  5032 

MISS  BLANCH  L.  VANCE,  Pres.     .        .      West  5856;  75184 

MISS  LOUISE  CURTAIN,  Corres.  SectV 53062 

MISS  MAUD  E.  SNAY,  Chm.  Bulletin  Committee    .     556960 


^PIT  has  been  said  that  Kate  Douglas 
gsg  Wiggin's  human  and  humorous  ap- 
peal never  fails  to  inspire  some  one  in  the 
cause  of  humanity.  It  is  quite  within  the 
power  of  the  army  of  16.000  teachers  in 
California  to  present  the  nation  with  a 
state  that  has  wholly  eradicated  illiteracy. 
The  masses  of  unassimilated  foreigners  in 
this  country  are  a  menace  to  its  govern- 
ment. They  can  never  fully  understand 
our  institutions  until  they  can  read  our 
language.  It  is  our  peculiar  responsibility 
as  teachers  to  give  of  our  talent  to  this 
cause  as  generously  as  Kate  Douglas 
Wiggin  has  given  of  hers. 

9065*65? 


</g£        /Ucr^yZ*^   fl/<y<^<s 


The  Girl  and  the  Kingdom 


LEARNING  TO  TEACH 

LONG,  busy  street  in  San  Fran- 
cisco. Innumerable  small  shops 
lined  it  from  north  to  south  ;  horse 
cars,  always  crowded  with  passengers,  hur- 
ried to  and  fro ;  narrow  streets  intersected 
the  broader  one,  these  built  up  with  small 
dwellings,  most  of  them  rather  neglected 
by  their  owners.  In  the  middle  distance 
other  narrow  streets  and  alleys  where  taller 
houses  stood,  and  the  windows,  fire  escapes, 
and  balconies  of  these,  added  great  variety 
to  the  landscape,  as  the  families  housed 
there  kept  most  of  their  effects  on  the  out- 
side during  the  long  dry  season. 

Still  farther  away  were  the  roofs,  chim- 
neys and  smoke  stacks  of  mammoth  build- 
ings— railway  sheds,  freight  depots,  power 
houses  and  the  like — with  finally  a  glimpse 
of  docks  and  wharves  and  shipping.  This, 
or  at  least  a  considerable  section  of  it, 
was  the  kingdom.  To  the  ordinary  be- 
holder it  might  have  looked  ugly,  crowded, 
sordid,  undesirable,  but  it  appeared  none  of 


these  things  to  the  lucky  person  who  had 
been  invested  with  some  sort  of  modest 
authority   in   its  affairs. 

The  throne  from  which  the  luck)-  per- 
son viewed  the  empire  was  humble  enough. 
It  was  the  highest  of  the  tin  shop  steps 
at  the  corner  of  Silver  and  Third  streets. 
odd  place  for  a  throne,  but  one  command- 
ing- a  fine  view  of  the  inhabitants,  their 
dwellings,  and  their  activities.  The  activ- 
ities in  plain  sight  were  somewhat  limited  in 
variety,  but  the  signs  sported  the  names  of 
nearly  every  nation  upon  the  earth.  The 
Shubeners,  Levis,  Ezekiels  and  Appels 
were  generally  in  tailoring  or  secondhand 
furniture  and  clothing,  while  the  Raffertys, 
O'Flanagans  and  McDougalls  dispensed 
liquor.  All  the  most  desirable  sites  were 
occupied  by  saloons,  for  it  was  practically 
impossible  to  quench  the  thirst  of  the  neigh- 
borhood, though  many  were  engaged  in  a 
valiant  effort  to  do  so.  There  were  also 
in  evidence,  barbers,  joiners,  plumbers,  gro- 
cers, fruit-sellers,  bakers  and  venders  of 
small  wares,  and  there  was  the  largest  and 
most  splendidly  recruited  army  of  do-noth- 
ings that  the  sun  ever  shone  upon.  These 
forever-out-of-  workers,  leaning  against 
every  lamp  post,  fence  picket,  corner  house, 
and  barber  pole  in  the  vicinity,  were  all 
male,  but  they  were  mostly  mated  to  women 
fully  worthy  of  them,  their  wives  doing 
nothing    with    equal    assiduity    in    the    back 

C 


streets  hard  by.  — Stay,  they  did  one  thing, 
they  added  copiously  to  the  world's  popula- 
tion ;  and  indeed  it  seemed  as  if  the  families 
in  the  community  that  ought  to  have  had 
few  children,  or  none  at  all,  (for  their 
country's  good)  had  the  strongest  prejudice 
to  race  suicide.  Well,  there  was  the  king- 
dom and  there  were  the  dwellers  therein, 
and  the  lucky  person  on  the  steps  was  a 
girl.  She  did  not  know  at  first  that  it  was 
a  kingdom,  and  the  kingdom  never  at  any 
time  would  have  recognized  itself  under 
that  name,  for  it  was  anything  but  a  senti- 
mental neighborhood.  The  girl  was  some- 
what too  young  for  the  work  she  was  going 
to  do,  and  considerably  too  inexperienced, 
but  she  had  a  kindergarten  diploma  in  her 
pocket,  and  being  an  ardent  follower  of 
Froebel  she  thought  a  good  many  roses 
might  blossom  in  the  desert  of  Tar  Flat, 
the  rather  uneuphonious  name  of  the  king- 
dom. 

Here  the  discreet  anonymity  of  the  third 
person  must  be  cast  aside  and  the  regret- 
table egotism  of  the  first  person  allowed  to 
enter,  for  I  was  a  girl,  and  the  modest 
chronicle  of  my  early  educational  and  phil- 
anthropic adventures  must  be  told  after  the 
manner  of  other  chronicles. 

The  building  in  Silver  Street  which  was 
to  be  the  scene  of  such  beautiful  and  in- 
spiring doings  (I  hoped)  as  had  been  sel- 
dom observed  on  this  planet,  was  pleasant 
7 


and  commodious.  It  had  been  occupied  by 
two  classes  of  an  overcrowded  primary 
school,  which  had  now  been  removed  to  a 
fine  modern  building.  The  two  rooms 
rented  for  this  pioneer  free  kindergarten  of 
the  Pacific  Coast  were  (Alas!)  in  the  sec- 
ond story  but  were  large  and  sunny.  A 
broad  Might  of  twenty  wooden  steps  led 
from  street  to  first  floor  and  a  long  stair- 
way connected  that  floor  with  the  one  above. 
If  anyone  had  realized  what  those  fifty  or 
sixty  stairs  meant  to  the  new  enterprise,  in 
labor  and  weariness,  in  wasted  time  and 
strength  of  teachers  and  children — but  it 
was  difficult  to  find  ideal  conditions  in  a 
crowded   neighborhood. 

The  first  few  days  after  my  arrival  in 
San  Francisco  were  spent  in  the  installing 
of  stove,  piano,  tables,  benches  and  work- 
ing materials,  and  then  the  beautifying  be- 
gan, the  creation  of  a  room  so  attractive 
and  homelike,  so  friendly  in  its  atmosphere, 
that  its  charm  would  be  felt  by  every  child 
who  entered  it.  I  was  a  stranger  in  a 
strange  city,  my  only  acquaintances  being 
the  trustees  of  the  newly  formed  Associa- 
tion. These  naturally  had  no  technical 
knowledge,  (I  am  speaking  of  the  Dark 
Ages,  when  there  were  but  two  or  three 
trained  kindergartners  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains)  and  the  practical  organization 
of  things — a  kindergarten  of  fifty  children 
in    active   operation — this    was    my    depart- 


rnent.  When  I  had  anything'  to  show  them 
they  were  eager  and  willing  to  help,  mean- 
time they  could  and  did  furnish  the  sinews 
of  war,  standing  sponsors  to  the  commun- 
ity for  the  ideals  in  education  we  were  en- 
deavoring to  represent.  Here  is  where  the 
tin  shop  steps  came  in.  I  sat  there  very 
often  in  those  sunny  days  of  late  July,  1878. 
dreaming  dreams  and  seeing  visions ;  plot- 
ting, planning,  helping,  believing,  forecast- 
ing the  future.  "Hills  peeped  o'er  hills  and 
Alps  on  Alps." 

I  take  some  credit  to  myself  that  when 
there  were  yet  no  such  things  as  Settlements 
and  Neighborhood  Guilds  I  had  an  instinct 
that  this  was  the  right  way  to  work. 

"This  school,"  I  thought,  "must  not  be 
an  exotic,  a  parasite,  an  alien  growth,  not 
a  flower  of  beauty  transplanted  from  a  con- 
servatory and  shown  under  glass ;  it  must 
have  its  roots  deep  in  the  neighborhood  life, 
and  there  my  roots  must  be  also.  No  teacher, 
be  she  ever  so  gifted,  ever  so  consecrated, 
can  sufficiently  influence  the  children  under 
her  care  for  only  a  few  hours  a  day,  unless 
she  can  gradually  persuade  the  parents  to 
be  her  allies.  I  must  find  then  the  desired 
fifty  children  under  school  age  (six  years 
in  California)  and  I  must  somehow  keep 
in  close  relation  to  the  homes  from  which 
they  come." 

How  should  I  get  in  intimate  touch  with 
this  strange,  puzzling,  foreign  community, 
9 


this  big  clump  of  poverty-stricken,  intem- 
perate, overworked,  lazy,  extravagant,  ill 
assorted  humanity  leavened  here  and  there 
bv  a  God-fearing-,  thrifty,  respectable  fam- 
ily? There  were  from  time  to  time  chil- 
dren of  widows  who  were  living-  frugally 
and  doing  their  best  for  their  families  who 
proved  to  be  the  leaven  in  my  rather  sorry 
lump. 

Buying  and  borrowing  were  my  first  two 
aids  to  fellowship.  I  bought  my  luncheon 
at  a  different  bakery  every  day  and  my  glass 
of  milk  at  a  different  dairy.  At  each  visit 
I  talked,  always  casually,  of  the  new  kinder- 
garten, and  gave  its  date  of  opening,  but 
never  "solicited"  pupils.  I  bought  pencils, 
crayons,  and  mucilage  of  the  local  stationers  ; 
brown  paper  and  soap  of  the  grocers ;  ham- 
mers and  tacks  of  the  hardware  man.  I 
borrowed  many  things,  returned  them  soon, 
and  thus  gave  my  neighbors  the  satisfac- 
tion of  being  helpful.  When  I  tried  to  bor- 
row the  local  carpenter's  saw  he  answered 
that  he  would  rather  come  and  do  the  job 
himself  than  lend  his  saw  to  a  lady.  The 
combination  of  a  lady  and  edged  tools  was 
something  in  his  mind  so  humorous  that  I 
nervously  changed  the  subject.  (If  he  is 
still  alive  I  am  sure  he  is  an  Anti-Suffra- 
gist!) I  was  glad  to  display  my  school 
room  to  an  intelligent  workman,  and  a  half 
hour's  explanation  of  the  kindergarten  oc- 
cupations made  the  carpenter  an  enthus- 
10 


iastic  convert.  This  gave  me  a  new  idea, 
and  to  each  craftsman,  in  the  vicinity,  I 
showed  the  particular  branch  of  kindergar- 
ten handiwork  that  might  appeal  to  him. 
whether  laying  of  patterns,  in  separate  sticks 
and  tablets,  weaving,  drawing,  rudimentary 
efforts  at  designing,  folding  and  cutting  of 
paper,  or  clay  modelling. 

I  had  the  great  advantage  of  making  all 
of  my  calls  in  shops,  and  thus  I  had  not 
the  unpleasant  duty  of  visiting  people's 
houses  uninvited,  nor  the  embarrassment  of 
being  treated  as  peddlers  of  patronage  and 
good  advice  are  apt  to  be  treated.  Besides, 
in  many  cases,  the  shops  and  homes  (Hea- 
ven save  the  mark!)  were  under  one  roof, 
and  children  scuttled  in  and  out,  behind  and 
under  the  counters  and  over  the  thresholds 
into  the  street.  They  were  all  agog  with 
curiosity  and  so  were  the  women.  A  mother 
does  not  have  to  be  highly  cultured  to  per- 
ceive the  advantage  of  a  place  near  by 
where  she  can  send  her  four  or  five  year 
olds  free  of  charge  and  know  that  they 
are  busy  and  happy  for  several  hours  a 
day. 

I  know,  by  long  experience  with  younger 
kindergartners  and  social  workers  in  after 
years,  that  this  kind  of  "visiting"  presents 
many  perplexities  to  persons  of  a  certain 
temperament,  but  I  never  entered  any  house 
where  I  felt  the  least  sensation  of  being 
out  of  place.  I  don't  think  this  flexibility 
11 


is  a  gift  of  especially  high  order,  nor  that 
it  would  be  equally  valuable  in  all  walks  of 
life,  but  it  is  of  great  service  in  this  sort 
of  work.  Whether  I  sat  in  a  stuffed  chair 
or  on  a  nailkeg  or  an  inverted  wasbtub  it 
was  always  equally  agreeable  to  me.  The 
"getting  into  relation,"  perfectly,  and  with- 
out the  loss  of  a  moment,  gave  me  a  sense 
of  mental  and  spiritual  exhilaration.  1  never 
had  to  adapt  myself  elaborately  to  a  strange- 
situation  in  order  to  be  in  sympathy.  I 
never  said  to  myself:  "But  for  God's  grace 
I  might  be  the  woman  on  that  cot ;  unloved, 
uncared  for,  with  a  new-born  child  at  my 
side  and  a  dozen  men  drinking  in  the  saloon 
just  on  the  other  side  of  the  wall  *  *  *  or 
that  mother  of  five — convivial,  dishonest, 
unfaithful  *  *  *  or  that  timid,  frail, 
little  creature  struggling  to  support  a  para- 
lvtic  husband."  T  never  had  to  give  myself 
logical  reasons  for  being  where  T  was,  nor 
wonder  what  1  should  say :  my  one  idea 
was  to  keep  the  situation  simple  and  free 
from  embarrassment  to  any  one ;  to  be  as 
completely  a  part  of  it  as  if  T  had  been 
born  there:  to  be  helpful  without  being  in- 
trusive :  to  show  no  surprise  whatever  hap- 
pened :  above  all  to  be  cheerful,  strong  and 
bracing,  not  weakly  sentimental. 

As    the    day   of   opening   approached    an 
unexpected  and  valuable  aide-de-camp  ap- 
peared on  the  scene.     An  American  girl  of 
twelve  or  thirteen  slipped  in  the  front  door 
12 


one  clay  when  I  was  practicing'  children's 
song's,  whereupon  the  following'  colloquy 
ensued. 

"What's  this  place  goin'  to  be?" 

"A  kindergarten." 

"What's  that?" 

Explanation  suited  to  the  questioner,  fol- 
lowed. 

"Can  I  come  in  afternoons,  on  my  way 
home  from  school  and  see  what  you  do?" 

"Certainly." 

"Can  I  stay  now  and  help  round?" 

"Yes  indeed,  I  should  be  delighted." 

"What's  the  bird  for?" 

"What  are  all  birds  for?"  I  answered, 
just   to   puzzle   her. 

"I  dunno.  What's  the  plants  and  flowers 
for?" 

"What  are  all  flowers  for?"  I  demanded 
again. 

"But  I  thought  'twas  a  school." 

"It  is,  but  it's  a  new  kind." 

"Where's  the   books?" 

"The  children  are  going  to  be  under  six  ; 
we  shan't  have  reading  and  writing." 

We  sat  down  to  work  together,  marking 
out  and  cutting  brown  paper  envelopes  for 
the  children's  sewing  or  weaving,  binding 
colored  prints  with  gold  paper  and  putting 
them  on  the  wall  with  thumb  tacks,  and  ar- 
ranging all  the  kindergarten  materials  tidily 
on  the  shelves  of  the  closets.  Next  day  was 
a  holiday  and  she  begged  to  come  again.  I 
13 


consented  and  told  her  that  she  might  bring 
a  friend  if  she  liked  and  we  would  lunch  to- 
gether. 

"I  guess  not,"  she  said,  with  just  a  hint  of 
jealousy  in  her  tone.  "You  and  I  get  on  so 
well  that  mebbe  we'd  be  bothered  with  an- 
other girl  messin'  around,  and  she'd  be  one 
more  to  wash  up  for  after  lunch." 

From  that  moment,  the  Corporal,  as  I 
called  her,  was  a  stanch  ally  and  there  was 
seldom  a  day  in  the  coming-  years  when  she 
did  nut  faithfully  perform  all  sorts  of  unoffi- 
cial duties,  attaching-  herself  passionately 
to  my  service  with  the  devotion  of  a  mother 
or  an  elder  sister.  She  proved  at  the  begin- 
ning a  kind  of  travelling  agent  for  the 
school  haranguing  mothers  on  the  street 
corners  and  addressing  the  groups  of  cur- 
ious children  who  gathered  at  the  foot  of 
the  school  steps. 

"You'd  ought  to  go  upstairs  and  see  the 
inside  of  it!"  she  would  exclaim.  "It's 
just  like  going  around  the  world.  There's 
a  canary  bird,  there's  fishes  swimmin'  in  a 
gla^s  bowl,  there's  plants  bloomin'  on  the 
winder  sills,  there's  a  pianncr,  and  more'n  a 
million  pictures!  There's  closets  stuffed 
full  o'  things  to  play  and  work  with,  and 
whatever  the  scholars  make  they're  goin' 
to  take  home  if  it's  good.  There's  a  play- 
room with  red  rings  painted  on  the  floor  and 
they're  going  to  march  and  play  games  on 
'em.  She  can  play  the  planner  standin'  up 
14 


or  settin'  down,  without  lookirT  at  her  hands 
to  see  where  they're  goin'.  She's  goin'  to 
wear  white,  two  a  week,  and  I  got  Miss  Lan- 
nigan  to  wash  'em  for  her  for  fifteen  cents 
apiece.  I  tell  her  the  children  'round  here's 
awful  dirty  and  she  says  the  cleaner  she  is 
the  cleaner  they'll  be.  .  .  No  'tain't  goin' 
to  be  no  Sunday  School,"  said  the  voluble 
Corporal.  "No,  'tain't  goin'  to  be  no  Mis- 
sion ;  no,  'tain't  goin'  to  be  no  Lodge !  She 
says  it's  a  new  kind  of  a  school,  that's  all  I 
know,  and  next  Monday'll  see  it  goin'  full 
blast!" 

It  was  somewhat  in  this  fashion,  that  I 
walked  joyously  into  the  heart  of  a  San 
Francisco  slum,  and  began  experimenting 
with  my  newly-learned  panaceas. 

These  were  early  days.  The  kindergar- 
ten theory  of  education  was  on  trial  for  its 
very  life  ;  the  fame  of  Pestalozzi  and  Froe- 
bel  seemed  to  my  youthful  vision  to  be  in 
my  keeping,  and  I  had  all  the  ardor  of  a 
neophyte.  I  simply  stepped  into  a  cockle- 
shell and  put  out  into  an  unknown  ocean, 
where  all  manner  of  derelicts  needed  help 
and  succor.  The  ocean  was  a  life  of  which 
I  had  heretofore  known  nothing ;  miserable, 
overburdened,  and  sometimes  criminal. 

My  cockleshell  managed  to  escape  ship- 
wreck, and  took  its  frail  place  among  the 
other  craft  that  sailed  in  its  company.  I 
hardly  saw  or  felt  the  safety  of  the  harbor 
<»r  the  shore  for  three  years,  the  three  years 
15 


out  iii"  my  whole  life  the  most  wearying,  the 
most  heart-searching",  the  most  discourag 
ing,  the  most  inspiring ;  also,  T  dare  say.  the 
best    worth   living. 

"Full  blast,"  the  Corporal's  own  expres- 
sion, exactly  described  the  setting  out  of 
the  cockle-shell;  that  is,  the  eventful  Mon- 
day morning  when  the  door-,  of  the  first 
free  kindergarten  west  of  the  Rookies  threw 
open  its  doors. 

The  neighborhood  was  enthusiastic  in  pre- 
senting its  offspring  at  the  altar  of  educa- 
tional experiment,  and  we  might  have  en- 
rolled a  hundred  children  had  there  been 
room.  T  was  to  have  no  assistant  and  we 
had  provided  seats  only  for  forty-five,  which 
prohibited  a  list  of  more  than  fifty  at  the 
outside.  A  convert  to  any  inspiring  idea 
being  anxious  to  immolate  herself  on  the 
first  altar  which  comes  in  the  path  of  duty, 
I  carefully  selected  the  children  best  calcu- 
lated to  show  to  the  amazed  public  the  re- 
generating effects  of  the  kindergarten 
method,  and  as  a  whole  they  were  unsur- 
passed specimens  of  the  class  we  hoped  to 
benefit. 

Of  the  forty  who  were  accepted  the  first 
morning,  thirty  appeared  to  be  either  indif- 
ferent or  willing  victims,  while  ten  were 
quite  the  reverse.  These  screamed  if  the  ma- 
ternal hand  were  withdrawn,  bawled  if  their 
hats  were  taken  away,  and  bellowed  if  they 
were  asked  to  sit  down.  This  rebellion  led 
16 


to  their  being  removed  to  the  hall  by  their 
mothers,  who  spanked  them  vigorously  ev- 
ery few  minutes  and  returned  them  to  me 
each  time  in  a  more  unconquered  state,  with 
their  lung  power  quite  unimpaired  and  their 
views  of  the  New  Education  still  vague  and 
distorted.  As  the  mothers  were  uniformly 
ladies  with  ruffled  hair,  snapping  eyes,  high 
color  and  short  temper,  I  could  not  under- 
stand the  childrens'  fear  of  me,  a  mild  young 
thing  "in  white" — as  the  Corporal  would 
say — but  they  evidently  preferred  the  ills 
they  knew.  When  the  last  mother  led  in 
the  last  freshly  spanked  child  and  said  as 
she  prepared  to  leave :  "Well,  I  suppose 
they  might  as  well  get  used  to  you  one  time 
as  another,  so  good-day,  Miss,  and  God  help 
you!"  I  felt  that  my  woes  were  greater  than 
I  could  bear,  for,  as  the  door  closed,  several 
infants  who  had  been  quite  calm  began  to 
howl  in  sympathy  with  their  suffering 
brethren.  Then  the  door  opened  again  and 
the  Corporal's  bright  face  appeared  in  the 
crack. 

"Goodness!"  she  ejaculated,  "this  ain't 
the  new  kind  of  a  school  I  thought  'twas 
goin'  to  be  ! — Stop  your  cryin',  Jimmy  Max- 
well, a  great  big  boy  like  you ;  and  Levi 
Isaacs  and  Goldine  Gump,  I  wonder  you 
ain't  ashamed !  Do  you  'spose  Miss  Kate 
can  do  anything  with  such  a  racket?  Now 
don't  let  me  hear  any  more  o'  your  non- 
sense ! — Miss  Kate,"  she  whispered,  turn- 
17 


ing  to  me:  "I've  got  the  whole  day  off  for 
my  uncle's  funeral,  and  as  he  ain't  buried 
till  three  o'clock  I  thought  I'd  hetter  run 
in  and  see  how  you  was  gettin'  on !" 

"You  are  an  angel,  Corporal !"  1  said. 
"Take  all  the  howlers  down  into  the  yard 
and  let  them  play  in  the  sand  tahles  till  I 
call  you." 

When  the  queue  of  weeping  babes  had 
been  sternly  led  out  by  the  Corporal  some- 
thing like  peace  descended  upon  the  room 
but  there  could  be  no  work  for  the  mo- 
ment because  the  hands  were  too  dirt)-. 
Cooperation  was  strictly  Froebelian  so  I 
selected  with  an  eagle  eye  several  assistants 
from  the  group — the  brightest-eyed,  best- 
tempered,  and  cleanest.  With  their  help  I 
arranged  the  seats,  the  older  children  at 
the  back  tables  and  the  babies  in  the  front. 
Classification  was  difficult  as  many  of  them 
did  not  know  their  names,  their  ages,  their 
sexes,  nor  their  addresses,  but  I  had  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  a  little  order  out  of  chaos 
by  the  time   the  Corporal  appeared  again. 

"They've  all  stopped  cryin'  but  Hazel 
Golly,  and  she  ran  when  I  wa'n't  lookin' 
and  got  so  far  I  couldn't  ketch  her ;  any- 
way she  ain't  no  loss  for  I  live  next  door 
to  her. — What'll  we  do  next?" 

"Scrub !"  I  said  firmly.  "I  want  to  give 
them  some  of  the  easiest  work,  two  kinds, 
but  we  can't  touch  the  colored  cards  until 
all  the  hands  are  clean. — Shall  we  take  soap 


and  towels  and  all  go  down  into  the  yard 
where  the  sink  is,  children,  and  turn  up  our 
sleeves  and  have  a  nice  wash?"  (Some  of 
the  infants  had  doubtless  started  from  home 
in  a  tolerable  state  of  cleanliness  but  all 
signs  had  disappeared  en   route). 

The  proposition  was  greeted  amiably. 
"Anything  rather  than  sit  still!"  is  the  men- 
tal attitude  of  a  child  under  six  ! 

"I  told  you  just  how  dirty  they'd  be," 
murmured  the  Corporal.  "I  know  'em ;  but 
I  never  expected  to  get  this  good  chance 
to   scrub  any  of  'em." 

"It's  only  the  first  day ;— wait  till  next 
Monday,"  I  urged. 

"I  shan't  be  here  to  see  it  next  Monday 
morning,"  my  young  friend  replied.  "We 
can't  bury  Uncle  every  week!"  (This  with 
a    sigh   of   profound    regret!) 

Many  days  were  spent  in  learning  the 
unpronounceable  names  of  my  flock  and 
in  keeping  them  from  murdering  one  an- 
other until  Froebel's  justly  celebrated  "law 
of  love"  could  be  made  a  working  proposi- 
tion. It  was  some  time  before  the  babies 
could  go  down  stairs  in  a  line  without  pre- 
cipitating one  another  head  foremost  by 
furtive  kicks  and  punches.  I  placed  an 
especially  dependable  boy  at  the  head  and 
tail  of  the  line  but  accidentally  overheard 
the  tail  boy  tell  the  head  that  he'd  lay  him 
out  flat  if  he  got  into  the  yard  first,  a 
threat  that  embarrassed  a  free  and  expedi- 
10 


lions  exit: — and  all  their  relations  to  one 
another  seemed  at  this  time  to  be  arranged 
on  a  broad  basis  of  belligerence.  But  bet- 
ter days  were  coming,  were  indeed  near  at 
hand,  and  the  children  themselves  brought 
them ;  they  only  needed  to  be  shown  how, 
but  you  may  well  guess  that  in  the  early 
days  of  what  was  afterwards  to  be  known 
as  "The  Kindergarten  Movement  on  the 
Pacific  Coast,"  when  the  Girl  and  her  King- 
dom first  came  into  active  communication 
with  each  other,  the  question  of  discipline 
loomed  rather  large !  Putting  aside  alto- 
gether the  question  of  the  efficiency,  or  the 
propriety,  of  corporal  punishment  in  the 
public  schools,  it  seems  pretty  clear  that 
babies  of  four  or  five  years  should  be 
spanked  by  their  parents  if  by  anyone ;  and 
that  a  teacher  who  cannot  induce  good  be- 
havior in  children  of  that  age,  without 
spanking,  has  mistaken  her  vocation.  How- 
ever, it  is  against  their  principles  for  kin-- 
dergartner's  to  spank,  slap,  flog,  shake  or 
otherwise  wrestle  with  their  youthful 
charges,  no  matter  how  much  they  seem 
to  need  these  instantaneous  and  sometimes 
very  effectual  methods  of  dissuasion  at  the 
moment. 

There  are  undoubtedly  times  when  the 
old  Adam  (I  don't  know  why  it  shouldn't 
be  the  Old  Eve!)  rises  in  one's  still  unre- 
generate  heart,  and  one  longs  to  take  the 
"low  road"  in  discipline;  but  the  "high 
20 


road"  commonly  leads  one  to  the  desired 
point  without  great  delay  and  there  is  gen- 
uine satisfaction  in  finding  that  taking  away 
his  work  from  a  child,  or  depriving  him 
of  the  pleasure  of  helping  his  neighbors,  is 
as  great  a  punishment  as  a  blow. 

You  may  say  such  ideal  methods  would 
not  prevail  with  older  boys  and  girls,  and 
that  may  be  true,  for  wrong  development 
may  have  gone  too  far ;  but  it  is  difficult 
to  find  a  small  child  who  is  lazy  or  in- 
different, or  one  who  would  welcome  the 
loss  of  work ;  difficult  also  to  find  one  who 
is  not  unhappy  when  deprived  of  the  chance 
of  service,  seeing,  as  he  does,  his  neighbors 
happily  working  together  and  joyfully  help- 
ing others. 

I  had  many  Waterloos  in  my  term  of 
generalship  and  many  a  time  was  I  a  feeble 
enough  officer  of  "The  Kid's  Guards"  as 
the  kindergarten  was  translated  in  Tar  Flat 
by  those  unfamiliar  with  the  German  word. 

The  flock  was  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs 
one  morning  at  eleven  o'clock  when  there 
was  a  loud  and  long  fire  alarm  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity.  No  doubt  existed  in  the 
mind  of  any  child  as  to  the  propriety  or 
advisability  of  remaining  at  the  seat  of 
learning.  They  started  down  the  steps  for 
the  fire  in  a  solid  body,  with  such  unan- 
imity and  rapidity  that  I  could  do  nothing 
but  save  the  lives  of  the  younger  ones  and 
keep  them  from  being  trampled  upon  while 
21 


I  watched  the  flight  of  their  elders.  I  \roas 
left  with  two  lame  boys  and  four  babies 
so  fat  and  bow-legged  that  they  probably 
never  had  reached,  nor  ever  would  reach, 
a  fire  while  it  was  still  burning. 

Pat  Higgins,  aged  five  and  a  half,  the 
leader  of  the  line,  had  a  sudden  pang  of 
conscience  at  the  corner  and  ran  back  to 
ask  me  artlessly  if  he  might  "go  to  the 
fire." 

"'Certainly  not,"  I  answered  firmly.  On 
the  contrary  please  stay  here  with  the  lame 
and  the  fat,  while  /  go  to  the  fire  and  bring 
back  the  other  children." 

I  then  pursued  the  errant  flock  and  re- 
covering most  of  them,  marched  them  back 
to  the  school-room,  meeting  Judge  Solomon 
Heydenfelt,  President  of  the  new  Kinder- 
garten Association,  on  the  steps.  He  had 
been  awaiting  me  for  ten  minutes  and  it 
was  his  first  visit!  He  had  never  seen  a 
kindergarten  before,  either  returning  from 
a  fire  or  otherwise,  and  there  was  a  moment 
of  embarrassment,  but  I  had  a  sense  of 
humor  and  fortunately  he  enjoyed  the  same 
blessing.  '  Only  very  young  teachers  who 
await  the  visits  of  supervisors  in  shudder- 
ing expectancy  can  appreciate  this  episode. 

The  days  grew  brighter  and  more  hopeful 
as  winter  approached.  I  got  into  closer 
relation  with  some  homes  than  others,  and 
I  soon  had  half  a  dozen  five-year-olds  who 
came  to  the  kindergarten  clean,  and  if  not 
22 


whole,  Well  darned  and  patched.  One  of 
these  could  superintend  a  row  of  babies 
at  their  outline  sewing',  thread  their  needles, 
untangle  their  everlasting  knots,  and  cor- 
rect the  mistakes  in  the  design  by  the  jab- 
bing of  wrong  holes  in  the  card.  Another 
was  very  skillful  at  weaving  and  proved 
a  good  assistant  in  that  occupation. 

I  developed  also  a  little  body  guard  which 
was  efficient  in  making  a  serener  and  more 
harmonious  atmosphere.  It  is  neither  wise 
nor  kind  to  burden  a  child  with  respons- 
ibilities too  heavy  or  irksome  for  his  years, 
but  surely  it  is  never  too  early  to  allow 
him  to  be  helpful  to  his  fellows  and  con- 
siderate of  his  elders.  I  can't  believe  that 
any  of  the  tiny  creatures  on  whom  I  leaned 
in  those  weary  days  were  the  worse  for  my 
leaning.  The  more  I  depended  on  them  the 
greater  was  their  dependableness,  and  the 
little  girls  grew  more  tender,  the  boys  more 
chivalrous.  I  had  my  subtle  means  of  com- 
munication, spirit  to  spirit !  If  Pat  Higgins, 
pausing  on  the  verge  of  some  regrettable 
audacity  or  hilarious  piece  of  mischief, 
chanced  to  catch  my  eye,  he  desisted.  He 
knew  that  I  was  saying  to  him  silently : 
"You  are  not  so  very  naughty.  I  could 
almost  let  you  go  on  if  it  were  not  for 
those  others  who  are  always  making  trouble. 
Somebody  must  be  good!  I  cannot  bear 
it   if   you   desert  me !" 

Whenever  I  said  "Pat"  or  "Aaron"  or 
23 


"Billy"  in  a  pleading  tone  it  meant  "Help! 
or  I  perish !"  and  it  was  so  construed.  No, 
1  was  never  left  without  succor  when  I 
was  in  need  of  it!  I  remember  so  well 
an  afternoon  in  late  October  when  the 
world  had  gone  very  wrong!  There  had 
been  a  disagreeable  argument  with  Mrs. 
Gump,  who  had  sent  Goldine  to  mingle  with 
the  children  when  she  knew  she  had  chicken 
pox ;  Stanislas  Strazinski  had  fallen  down 
stairs  and  bruised  his  knee ;  Mercedes 
Pulaski  had  upset  a  vase  of  flowers  on  the 
piano  keys  and  finally  Petronius  Nelson  had 
stolen  a  red  woolen  ball.  I  had  seen  it 
in  his  hand  and  taken  it  from  him  sadly 
and  quietly  as  he  was  going  down  the  stairs. 
I  suggested  a  few  minutes  for  repentance 
in  the  play-room  and  when  he  came  out  he 
sat  at  my  knee  and  sobbed  out  his  grief 
in  pitiful  fashion.  His  tears  moved  my  very 
heart.  "Only  four  years  old,"  I  thought, 
"and  no  playthings  at  home  half  as  attract- 
ive as  the  bright  ones  we  have  here,  so  I 
must  be  very  gentle  with  him.  I  put  my 
arm  around  him  to  draw  him  to  me  and 
the  gesture  brought  me  in  contact  with  his 
curiously  knobby,  little  chest.  What  were 
my  feelings  when  I  extracted  from  his 
sailor  blouse  one  orange,  one  blue,  and  two 
green  balls !  And  this  after  ten  minutes  of 
repentant  tears !  I  pointed  the  moral  as 
quickly  as  possible  so  that  I  might  be  alone, 
and  then  realizing  the  apparent  hopeless- 
24 


ness  of  some  of  the  tasks  that  confronted 
me  I  gave  way  to  a  moment  of  hysterical 
laughter,  followed  by  such  a  flood  of  tears 
as  I  had  not  shed  since  I  was  a  child.  It 
was  then  and  there  the  Corporal  found  me, 
on  her  way  home  from  school.  She  flung 
her  books  on  the  floor  and  took  my  head 
on  her  kind,  scrawny,  young  shoulder. 

"What  have  they  been  doin'  to  you  ?"  she 
stormed.  "You  just  tell  me  which  one  of 
'em  'tis  and  I'll  see't  he  remembers  this 
day  as  long  as  he  lives.  Your  hair's  all 
mussed  up  and  you  look   sick  abed ! 

She  led  me  to  the  sofa  where  we  put 
tired  babies  to  sleep,  and  covered  me  with 
my  coat.  Then  she  stole  out  and  came  back 
with  a  pitcher  of  hot,  zvell-boilcd  tea,  after 
which  she  tidied  the  room  and  made  every- 
thing right  for  next  day.  Dear  Old  Cor- 
poral ! 

The  improvement  in  these  "little  teach- 
ers" in  capacity  as  well  as  in  manner,  voice, 
speech  and  behavior,  was  almost  supernat- 
ural, and  it  was  only  less  obvious  in  the  rank 
and  file.  There  was  little  "scrubbing"  done 
on  the  premises  now,  for  nearly  all  the  moth- 
ers who  were  not  invalids,  intemperate,  or  in- 
curable slatterns,  were  heartily  in  sympathy 
with  our  ideals.  At  the  end  of  six  weeks 
when  various  members  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  began  to  drop  in  for  their  second 
visit  they  were  almost  frightened  by  our 
attractive  appearance. 
25 


"The  subscribers  will  think  the  children 
come  from  Nob  Hill,"  one  of  them  ex- 
claimed in  humorous  alarm.  "Are  you  sure 
you  took  the  most  needy  in  every  way  ?" 

"Quite  sure.  Sit  down  in  my  chair, 
please,  and  look  at  my  private  book.  Do 
you  see  in  the  first  place  that  thirteen  arc 
the  children  of  small  liquor  sellers  and  live 
back  of  the  saloons?  Then  note  that  ten 
are  the  children  of  widows  who  support 
large  families  by  washing,  cleaning",  ma- 
chine sewing  or  shop-keeping.  You  will 
see  that  one  mother  and  three  fathers  on 
our  list  are  temporarily  in  jail  serving  short 
terms.  We  may  never  have  quite  such  a 
picturesque  class  again,  and  perhaps  it  would 
not  be  advisable ;  I  wish  sometimes  that  I 
had  taken  humanity  as  it  ran,  good,  bad  and 
indifferent,  instead  of  choosing  children 
from  the  most  discouraging  homes.  I 
thought,  of  course,  that  they  were  going  to 
be  little  villains.  They  ought  to  be.  if  there 
is  anything  either  in  heredity  or  environ- 
ment, but  just  look  at  them  at  this  moment 
— a  favorable  moment,  I  grant  you — but  just 
look  at  them !  Forty  pretty-near-angels, 
that's  what  they  are!" 

"It  is  marvellous!  1  could  adopt  twenty 
of  them!  I  cannot  account  for  it.  said  an- 
other of  the  Trustees. 

"T  can,"  1  answered.  "Any  tolerably 
healthy  child  under  six  who  is  clean,  busy, 
happy  and  in  good  company  looks  as  these 
26 


do.  Why  should  they  not  be  attractive? 
They  live  for  four  hours  a  day  in  this  sunny, 
airy  room  ;  they  do  charming-  work  suited  to 
their  baby  capacities — work,  too,  which  is 
not  all  pure  routine,  but  in  a  simple  way 
creative,  so  that  they  are  not  only  occupied, 
but  they  are  expressing  themselves  as  cre- 
ative beings  should.  They  have  music,  stor- 
ies and  games,  and  although  they  are  obliged 
to  behave  themselves  (which  is  sometimes 
a  trifle  irksome)  they  never  hear  an  unkind 
word.  They  grow  in  grace,  partly  because 
they  return  as  many  of  these  favors  as  is 
possible  at  their  age.  They  water  the  plants, 
clean  the  bird's  cage  and  fill  the  seed  cups 
and  bath ;  they  keep  the  room  as  tidy  as 
possible  to  make  the  janitor's  work  easier; 
they  brush  up  the  floor  after  their  own 
muddy  feet ;  the  older  ones  help  the  young- 
er and  the  strong  look  after  the  weak.  The 
conditions  are  almost  ideal ;  why  should 
they  not  respond  to  them?" 

California  children  are  apt  to  be  good 
specimens.  They  suffer  no  extremes  of  heat 
or  cold ;  food  is  varied  and  fruit  plentiful 
and  cheap ;  they  are  out  of  doors  every 
month  in  the  year  and  they  are  more  than 
ordinarily  clever  and  lively.  Still  I  refuse 
to  believe  that  any  other  company  of  chil- 
dren in  California,  or  in  the  universe,  was 
ever  so  unusual  or  so  piquantly  interesting 
as  those  of  the  Silver  Street  Kindergarten, 
particularly  the  never-to-be-forgotten  "first 
forty." 

27 


As  I  look  back  across  the  lapse  of  time 
I  cannot  understand  how  any  creature, 
however  young,  strong  or  ardent,  could 
have  supported  the  fatigue  and  strain  of 
that  first  year !  No  one  was  to  blame,  for 
the  experiment  met  with  appreciation  almost 
immediately,  but  I  was  attempting  the  im- 
possible, and  trying  to  perform  the  labor 
of  three  women.  I  soon  learned  to  work- 
more  skillfully,  but  I  habitually  squandered 
my  powers  and  lavished  on  trivial  details 
strength  that  should  have  been  spent  more 
thriftily.  The  difficulties  of  each  day  could 
be  surmounted  only  by  quick  wit,  ingenuity, 
versatility  :  by  the  sternest  exercise  of  self- 
control  and  by  a  continual  outpour  of  mag- 
netism. My  enthusiasm  made  me  reckless, 
but  though  I  regret  that  I  worked  in  entire 
disregard  of  all  laws  of  health,  I  do  not 
regret  a  single  hour  of  exhaustion,  dis- 
couragement or  despair.  All  my  pains  were 
just  so  many  birth-pangs,  leaving  behind 
them  a  little  more  knowledge  of  human 
nature,  a  little  wider  vision,  a  little  clearer 
insight,   a  little   deeper  sympathy. 

There  were  more  than  a  thousand  visitors 
during  the  first  year,  a  circumstance  that 
greatly  increased  the  nervous  strain  of 
teaching :  for  I  had  to  train  myself,  as  well 
as  the  children  to  as  absolute  a  state  of 
unconsciousness  as  possible.  I  always  jaunt- 
ily described  the  visitors  as  "fathers  and 
mothers."  and  told  the  children  that  there 
28 


would  soon  be  other  schools  like  ours,  and 
people  just  wanted  to  see  how  we  sang", 
and  played  circle  games,  and  modelled  in 
day,  and  learned  arithmetic  with  building 
blocks  and  all  the  rest  of  it.  1  paid  prac- 
tically no  attention  to  the  visitors  myself 
and  they  ordinarily  were  clever  enough  to 
understand  the  difficulties  of  the  situation. 
Among  the  earliest  in  the  late  autumn  of 
1878  were  Prof.  John  Swett  and  Mrs. 
Kincaid  of  the  San  Francisco  Normal 
School  who  thereafter  sent  down  their  stu- 
dents, two  at  a  time,  for  observation  and 
practical  aid.  The  next  important  visitor 
in  the  spring  of  1879  was  Mrs.  Sarah  B. 
Cooper.  She  possessed  the  "understanding- 
heart"  and  also  great  executive  ability,  so 
that  with  the  help  of  her  large  Bible  class 
she  was  able  to  open  a  second  free  Kinder- 
garten on  Jackson  Street  in  October,  1879. 
Soon  after  this  date  the  desert  began  to 
blossom  as  die  rose.  T  went  to  the  Eastern 
cities  during  my  summer  vacation  an  1 
learned  by  observation  and  instruction  all 
that  I  could  from  my  older  and  wiser  con- 
temporaries Miss  Susan  Blow  of  St.  Louis, 
Dr.  Hailman  of  LaPorte,  Mrs.  Putnam  of 
Chicago  and  Miss  Elizabeth  Peabody  and 
Miss  Garland  of  Boston.  Returning  I 
opened  my  own  Kindergarten  Training 
School  and  my  sister  Miss  Nora  Archibald 
Smith  joined  me  both  in  the  theoretical  an  1 
practical  spreading  of  the  gospel. 
29 


Thirty-seven  years  have  passed,  but  if 
I  were  a  portrait  painter  1  could  repro- 
duce on  canvas  every  nose,  eye,  smile, 
hand,  curl  of  hair,  in  that  group.  I  often 
close  my  eyes  to  call  up  the  picture,  and 
almost  every  child  falls  into  his  old  seat 
and  answers  to  his  right  name.  Here  are 
a  few  sketches  of  those  in  the  front  row : 

Willy  Beer,  dubbed  Wriggly  Beer  by  the 
older  boys  in  his  street,  because  of  a  slight 
nervous  affection  that  kept  him  in  a  state 
of  perpetual  motion.  He  was  not  uncome- 
ly ;  indeed,  when  I  was  telling  a  story  it  was 
a  pleasure  to  watch  his  face  all  twitching 
with  interest ;  first  nose,  then  eyes,  then 
mouth,  till  the  delight  spread  to  his  fat 
hands,  which  clasped  and  unclasped  as  the 
tale  proceeded.  He  had  a  perfect  sense 
of  time  and  tunes  and  was  indefatigable  in 
the  marching  and  games.  His  mother  sent 
me  this  unique  letter  when  he  had  been  with 
me  a  month  : 
"Yung  lady: 

"Willy  seems  to  be  onto  his  foot  most  of 
the  time.  These  is  all  the  bates  Willy  will 
half  to  Krissmus.  Can  you  learn  him  set- 
tin'  down?  Respeckfully, 

"Mrs'.  Beer." 

Sitting  next  to  Willy,  and  rhyming  with 
him,  was  Billy — Billy  Prendergast — a  large 
boy  for  his  years  with  the  face  and  voice  of 
a  man  of  thirty. 

Billy  Prendergast  taught  me  a  very  good 
30 


lesson  in  pedagogy  when  I  was  making  be- 
lieve teach  him  other  things ! 

One  of  our  simple  morning  songs  ended 
with  the  verse : 

"All  ye  little  children,  hear  the  truth  we  tell, 
God  will  ne'er  forget  yon,  for  he  loves  you 
well." 

One  day  in  the  gentle  lull  that  succeeded 
the  singing  of  that  song,  Billy's  growling 
baritone  fell  on  my  ear : 

"Why  will  he  never  get  yer?"  he  asked, 
his  strange  rough  voice  bringing  complete 
silence,  as  it  always  did. 

"What  do  you  mean,  Billy?" 

"That's  what  it  says  :  'God  will  never  get 
yer,  for  he  loves  you  well.' ': 

Consternation  overcame  me.  Billy,  and 
goodness  knows  how  many  others,  had  been 
beginning  the  day  with  the  puzzling  theo- 
logical statement:  "God  will  never  get  yer 
(ne'er  forget  you)   for  he  loves  you  well." 

I  chose  my  verses  more  carefully,  after 
that  experience,  avoiding  all  e'ers  and  ne'ers 
and  other  misleading  abbreviations. 

Hansanella  Dorflinger  now  claims  atten- 
tion. 

Hansanella  sounds  like  one  word  but  they 
were  twins,  and  thus  introduced  to  me  by 
a  large  incoherent  boy  who  brought  them 
to  the  kindergarten.  He  was  in  a  hurry 
and  left  them  at  my  door  with  scant  cere- 
mony, save  the  frequent  repetition  of  the 
watchw* ird  "Hansanella." 
31 


After  some  difficulty  1  succeeded  in  de- 
ciding which  was  Hans  and  which  was 
Ella,  though  there  was  practically  no  differ- 
ence between  them  excepting-  that  the  ash 
blonde  hair  of  Hans  was  cropped  still  more 
closely  than  that  of  Ella. 

They  had  light  blue  glassy  eyes,  too  far 
apart,  thin  lips,  chalky  skins  and  perennial 
colds  in  the  head.  They  breathed  together, 
smiled  and  wept  together,  rose  and  sat 
down  together  and  wiped  their  noses  to- 
gether— none  too  frequently.  Never  were 
such  'twinneous'  twins  as  Hansanella,  and 
it  was  ridiculous  to  waste  two  names  on 
them,  for  there  was  not  between  them  per- 
sonality enough  for  one  child. 

When  I  requested  Ella  to  be  a  pony  it 
immediately  became  a  span,  for  she  never 
moved  without  Hans.  If  the  children  chose 
Hans  for  the  father-bird,  Ella  intrusively 
and  suffragistically  fluttered  into  the  nest, 
too,  sadly  complicating  the  family  arrange- 
ments. They  seldom  spoke,  but  sat  stolidly 
beside  each  other,  laying  the  same  patterns 
with   dogged   pertinacity. 

One  morning  a  new  little  boy  joined  our 
company.  As  was  often  the  case  he  was 
shy  about  sitting  down.  It  would  seem 
as  if  the  spectacle  of  forty  children  work- 
ing tranquilly  together,  would  convince  new- 
applicants  that  the  benches  contained  no 
dynamite,  but  they  always  parted  with  their 
dilapidated  hats  as  if  they  never,  in  the 
32 


nature  of  things,  could  hope  to  see  them 
again,  and  the  very  contact  of  their  persons 
with  the  benches  evoked  an  uncontrollable 
wail,  which  seemed  to  say :  "It  is  all  up 
with  us  now  !    Let  the  portcullis  fall !" 

The  new  boy's  eye  fell  on  Hansanella 
and  he  suddenly  smiled  broadly. 

"Sit  mit  Owgoost!"  he  said. 

"We  haven't  any  'August',"  I  responded, 
"that  is  Hans  Dorflinger." 

"Sit  mit  Owgoost."  he  repeated  thickly 
and    firmly. 

"Is  this  boy  a  friend  of  yours,  Hans?" 
I   inquired,  and  the  twins  nodded  blandly. 

"Is  your  other  name  August,  Hans?" 

This  apparently  was  too  complicated  a 
question  for  the  combined  mental  activities 
of  the  pair,  and  they  lapsed  comfortably 
into  their  ordinary  state  of  coma. 

The  Corporal  finally  found  the  boy  who 
originally  foisted  upon  our  Paradise  these 
two  dullest  human  beings  that  ever  drew 
breath.  He  explained  that  I  had  entirely 
misunderstood  his  remarks.  He  said  that 
he  heard  I  had  accepted  Hansanella  Dor- 
flinger. but  they  had  moved  with  their  par- 
ents to  Oakland ;  and  as  they  could  not 
come,  he  thought  it  well  to  give  the  coveted 
places  to  August  and  Anna  Olsen,  whose 
mother  worked  in  a  box-factory  and  would 
be  q-lad  to  have  the  children  looked  after. 

"Y\  nat's  the  matter  mit  'em  ?"  he  asked 
anxiously.     "Ain't   dey   goot?" 
33 


"Oh,  yes  they  arc  good,"  I  replied,  add- 
ing mysteriously.  "It  two  children  named 
August  and  Anna  allow  you  to  call  them 
Hansanella  for  five  weeks  without  com- 
ment, it  isn't  likely  that  they  wotdd  be  ver\ 
fertile  in  evil  doing"!" 

I  had  a  full  year's  experience  with  the 
false  Hansanella  and  in  that  time  they 
blighted  our  supremest  joys.  There  was 
always  a  gap  in  the  circle  where  they  stood 
and  they  stopped  the  electric  current  when- 
ever it  reached  them.  I  am  more  anxious 
that  the  Eugenic  Societies  should  eliminate 
this  kind  of  child  from  the  future  than  al- 
most any  other  type.  It  has  chalk  and 
water  instead  of  blood  in  its  veins.  It  is  as 
cold  as  if  it  had  been  made  by  machinery 
and  then  refrigerated,  instead  of  being 
brought  into  being  by  a  mother's  love  ;  and 
it  never  has  an  impulse,  but  just  passes 
through  the  world  mechanically,  taking  up 
space  that  could  be  better  occupied  by  some 
warm,  struggling',  erring,  aspiring  human 
creature. 

How  can  I  describe  Jacob  Lavrowsky  ? 
There  chanced  to  he  a  row  of  little  Biblical 
characters,  mostly  prophets  sitting  beside 
one  another  about  half  way  back  in  the 
room; — Moses,  Jeremiah,  Ezekial,  Elijah 
and  Elisha,  but  the  greatest  of  these  was 
Jacob.  He  was  one  of  ten  children,  the 
offspring  of  a  couple  who  kept  a  second- 
hand clothing  establishment  in  the  vicinity. 
34 


Mr.  and  Airs.  Lavrowsky  collected,  mended, 
patched,  sold  and  exchanged  cast-off  wear- 
ing apparel,  and  the  little  Lavrowsky's 
played  about  in  the  rags,  slept  under  the 
counters  and  ate  Heaven  knows  where,  dur- 
ing the  term  of  my  acquaintance  with  them. 
Jacob  differed  from  all  the  other  of  my 
flock  by  possessing  a  premature,  thoroughly 
unchildlike  sense  of  humor.  He  regarded 
me  as  one  of  the  most  unaccountable  human 
beings  he  had  ever  met,  but  he  had  such 
respect  for  what  he  believed  to  be  my  good 
bottom  qualities  that  he  constantly  tried  to 
conceal  from  me  his  feeling  that  I  was 
probably  a  little  insane.  He  had  large  ex- 
pressive eyes,  a  flat  nose,  wide  mouth,  thin 
hair,  long  neck  and  sallow  skin,  while  his 
body  was  so  thin  and  scrawny  that  his 
clothes  always  hung  upon  him  in  shape- 
less folds.  His  age  was  five  and  his  point 
of  view  that  of  fifty.  As  to  his  toilettes, 
there  must  have  been  a  large  clothes-bin  in 
the  room  back  of  the  shop  and  Jacob  must 
have  daily  dressed  himself  from  this,  lean- 
ing over  the  side  and  plucking  from  the 
varied  assortment  such  articles  as  pleased 
his  errant  fancy.  He  had  no  prejudices 
against  bits  of  feminine  attire,  often  sport- 
ing a  dark  green  cashmere  basque  trimmed 
with  black  velvet  ribbon  and  gilt  buttons. 
It  was  double  breasted  and  when  it  sur- 
mounted a  pair  of  trousers  cut  to  the  right 
length  but  not  altered  in  width,  the  effect 
35 


would  have  startled  any  more  exacting  com- 
munity than  ours.  Jacoh  was  always  tired 
and  went  through  his  tasks  rather  languidly, 
greatly  preferring  work  to  play.  All  diver- 
sions such  as  marching  and  circle  games 
struck  him  as  pleasant  enough,  but  childish, 
and  if  participated  in  at  all,  to  be  gone 
through  with  in  an  absent-minded  and 
supercillious  manner.  There  were  moments 
when  his  exotic  little  personality,  stand- 
ing out  from  all  the  rest  like  an  infant 
Artful  Dodger  or  a  caricature  of  Beau 
Brummel,  seemed  to  make  him  wholly  alien 
to  the  group,  yet  he  was  docile  and  obed- 
ient, his  only  fault  being  a  tendency  to 
strong  and  highly  colored  language.  To 
make  the  marching  more  effective  and  de- 
velope  a  better  sense  of  time,  I  instituted 
a  very  simple  and  rudimentary  form  of 
orchestra  with  a  triangle,  a  tambourine,  and 
finally  a  drum.  When  the  latter  instru- 
ment made  its  first  appearance  Jacob  sought 
a  secluded  spot  by  the  piano  and  gave  him- 
self up  to  a  fit  of  fairly  courteous  but 
excessive  mirth.  "A  drum!"  he  exclaimed, 
between  his  fits  of  laughter.  "What'll  yer 
have  next0     This  is  a  h /  of  a  school!" 

Just  behind  Jacob  sat  two  little  pink- 
cheeked  girls  five  and  four  years  old,  Violet 
and  Rose  Featherstone.  Violet  brought  the 
younger  Rose  every  day  and  was  a  miracle 
of  sisterly  devotion.  I  did  not  see  the 
mother  for  some  months  after  the  little  pair 
36 


entered,  as  she  had  work  that  kept  her  from 
home  during  the  hours  when  it  was  possible 
for  me  to  call  upon  her,  and  she  lived  at 
a  long"  distance  from  the  kindergarten  in  a 
neighborhood  from  which  none  of  our  other 
children  came. 

I  had  no  anxiety  about  them  however,  as 
the  looks,  behavior,  and  clothing  of  all  my 
children  was  always  an  absolute  test  of  the 
conditions  prevailing  in  the  home.  What 
was  my  surprise  then,  one  day  to  receive 
a  note  from  a  certain  Mrs.  Hannah  Googins, 
a  name  not  in  my  register. 

She  said  her  Emma  Abby  had  been  bring- 
ing home  pieces  of  sewing  and  weaving  of 
late,  marked  "Violet  Featherstone."  She 
would  like  to  see  some  of  Emma  Abby's 
own  work  and  find  out  whether  she  had 
taken  that  of  any  other  child  by  mistake. 
A  long  and  puzzling  investigation  followed 
the  receipt  of  this  letter  and  I  found  that 
the  romantic  little  Emma  Abby  Googins, 
not  caring  for  the  name  given  her  by  her 
maternal  parent,  had  assumed  that  of  Violet 
Featherstone.  Also,  being  an  only  child 
and  greatly  desiring  a  sister,  she  had 
plucked  a  certain  little  Nellie  Taylor  from 
a  family  near  by,  named  her  "Rose  Feather- 
stone" and  taken  her  to  and  from  the  kinder- 
garten daily,  a  distance  of  at  least  half  a 
mile  of  crowded  streets.  The  affair  was 
purely  one  of  innocent  romance.  Emma  Abby 
Gooerins  never  told  a  fib  or  committed  the 


slightest  fault  or  folly  save  that  of  burying 
her   name,   assuming  a   mure   distinguished 

one,  and  introducing-  a  sister  to  me  who  had 
no  claim  to  the  ( loogins  blood.  I  ler  mother 
was  thoroughly  mystified  by  the  occurrence 
and  I  no  less  so,  but  Emma  Abby  simply 
opened  her  blue  eyes  wider  and  protested 
that  she  "liked  to  be  Violet"  and  Rose  liked 
to  he  Rose,  and  that  was  the  only  excuse 
for  her  conduct,  which  she  seemed  to  think 
needed  neither  apology  nor  explanation. 

Now  comes  the  darling  of  the  group. 
the  heart's  ease,  the  nonesuch,  the  Rose  of 
Erin,  the  lovely,  the  indescribable  Rosaleen 
Clancy. 

We  were  all  working  busily  and  happily 
one  morning  when  a  young  woman  tapped 
at  the  door  and  led  in  that  flower  and  pearl 
of  babyhood,  the  aforesaid  Rosaleen. 

The  young  woman  said  she  knew  that  the 
kindergarten  was  full,  and  indeed  had  a 
long  waiting  list,  hut  the  Clancy  family  ha  1 
just  arrived  from  Ireland;  that  there  were 
two  little  boys;  a  new  baby  twenty-four 
hours  old:  Air.  Clancy  had  not  yet  found 
work,  and  could  we  take  care  of  Rosaleen 
even  for  a  week  or  two? 

As  I  looked  at  the  child  the  remark  that 
we  had  not  a  single  vacant  seat  perished. 
unborn,  on  my  lips.  She  was  about  three 
and  a  hall"  years  old,  and  was  clad  in  a 
straight,  loose  slip  of  dark-  blue  wool  thai 
showed   her   neck   and   arms.      A    little   flat, 


sort  of  "pork  pie"  hat  of  blue  velveteen 
sat  on  the  back  of  her  adorable  head,  show- 
ing the  satiny  rings  of  yellow  hair  that 
curled  round  her  ears  and  hung-  close  to  her 
neck.  (  Xo  wonder  ! )  She  had  gray-blue 
eyes  with  long  upper  and  under  lashes  and 
a  perfect  mouth  that  disclosed  the  pearly 
teeth  usually  confined  to  the  heroines  of 
novels.  As  to  her  skin  yon  would  say  that 
Jersey  cream  was  the  principal  ingredient 
in   its  composition. 

The  children  had  stopped  their  weaving 
needles  and  were  gazing  open-mouthed  at 
this  vision  of  beauty,  though  Rosaleen  had 
by  no  means  unmasked  all  her  batteries.  She 
came  nearer  my  chair,  and  without  being- 
invited,  slipped  her  hand  in  mine  in  a  blar- 
neyish  and  deludthering  way  not  unknown 
in  her  native  isle.  The  same  Jersey  cream 
had  gone  into  its  skin,  there  were  dimples 
in  the  knuckles,  and  baby  hand  though  it 
was,  its  satin  touch  had  a  thrill  in  it,  and 
responded  instantly  to  my  pressure. 

"Do  you  think  we  can  make  room  for  her, 
children  ?"  I  asked. 

Every  small  boy  cried  rapturously:  "Look 
Miss  Kate!  Here's  room!  T  kin  scrooge 
up!"  and  hoped  the  Lord  would  send  Rosa- 
leen his  way  ! 

"We  can't  have  two  children  in  one  scat  ;" 
I  explained  to  Rosaleen's  sponsor,  "because 
the_\-    can't    have   proper   building   exercises 
^0 


nor  work  to  good  advantage  when  they're 
en  >wded." 

"I  kin  set  on  the  pianner  stool!"  gallantl) 
offered  Billy  Prendergast. 

"Perhaps  I  can  borrow  a  little  chair  some- 
where," I  said.  "Would  you  like  to  stay 
with   us  Rosaleen  ?" 

Her  only  answer  (she  was  richer  in  beau- 
tiful looks  than  in  speech)  was  to  remove 
her  blue  velveteen  hat  and  tranquilly  placed 
it  on  m}  table.  If  she  was  lovely  with  her 
hair  covered  she  was  still  lovelier  now ; 
while  her  smile  of  assent  disclosing  as  it 
did,  an  irresistible  dimple,  completed  our 
conquest;  so  that  no  one  in  the  room  (save 
Hansanella,  who  went  on  doggedly  with 
their  weaving)  would  have  been  parted 
from  the  new  comer  save  by  fire  and  the 
sword. 

At  one  o'clock  Bobby  Green  came  back 
from  the  noon  recess  dragging  a  high  chair. 
It  was  his  own  outgrown  property  and  he 
had  asked  our  Janitor  to  abbreviate  its  legs 
and  bring  it  up  stairs. 

When  Rosaleen  sat  in  it  and  smiled,  a 
thrill  of  rapture  swept  through  the  small 
community.  The  girls  thrilled  as  well  a-- 
the  boys,  for  Rosaleen's  was  not  a  mere 
sex  appeal  but  practically  a  universal  one. 

There  was  one  flaw  in  our  content.  Bobby 
Green's  mother  arrived  shortly  after  one 
o'clock  in  a  high  state  of  wrath,  and  1  was 
in 


obliged  to  go  out  in  the  hall  and  calm  her 
nerves. 

"I  really  think  Bobby's  impulse  was  an 
honest  one,"  I  said.  "He  did  not  know  I 
intended  to  buy  a  chair  for  the  new  child 
out  of  my  own  salary  this  afternoon.  He 
probably  thought  that  the  high  chair  was 
his  very  own,  reasoning  as  children  do,  and 
it  was  a  gallant,  generous  act.  I  don't  like 
to  have  him  punished  for  it,  Mrs.  Green, 
and  if  we  both  tell  him  he  ought  to  have 
asked  your  permission  before  giving  the 
chair  away,  and  if  I  buy  you  a  new  one. 
won't  you  agree  to  drop  the  matter?  — 
Think  how  manly  Bobby  was  and  how  gen- 
erous and  thoughtful !  If  he  were  mine  I 
couldn't  help  being  proud  of  him.  Just 
peep  in  and  look  at  the  baby  who  is  sit- 
ting in  his  chair,  a  little  stranger,  just  come 
from    Ireland    to    San    Francisco." 

Mrs.  Green  peeped  in  and  saw  the  sun 
shining  on  Rosaleen's  primrose  head.  She 
was  stringing  beads,  while  Bobby,  Pat  and 
Aaron  knelt  beside  her,  palpitating  for  a 
chance   to   serve. 

"She's  real  cute!"  whispered  Mrs.  Green. 
"Does  Bobby  act  very  often  like  he's  doin' 
now  ?" 

"He's  one  of  the  greatest  comforts  of 
my  life!"  I  said  truly. 

"I  wish  I  could  say  the  same !"  she  re- 
torted. "Well,  I  came  round  intendin'  to 
give  him  a  good  settlin'  but  he'd  had  two 
41 


already  this  week  and  I  guess  I'll  let  it  go! 
We  ain't  so  poverty-struck  as  some  <>'  the 
folks  in  this  neighborhood  and  I  guess  we 
can  make  out  to  spare  a  chair,  it's  little 
enough  to  pay  for  gettin'  rid  of  Bobby." 

Two  years  that  miracle  of  beauty  and 
sweetness.  Rosaleen  Clancy  stayed  with  us, 
just  as  potent  an  influence  as  the  birds  or 
the  flowers,  the  stories  1  told,  or  the  music 
1  coaxed  from  the  little  upright  piano.  Her 
face  was  not  her  only  fortune  for  she  had 
a  heart  of  gold.  Ireland  did  indeed  have 
a  grievance  when  Rosaleen  left  it  for 
America ! 

This  is  just  a  corner  of  my  portrait  gal- 
lery, which  has  dozens  of  other  types  hang- 
ing on  the  walls  clamoring  to  be  described. 
Some  were  lovely  and  some  interestingly 
ugly;  some  were  like  lilies  growing  out  of 
the  mud,  others  had  not  been  quite  as  able 
to  energize  themselves  out  of  their  environ- 
ment and  bore  the  sad  traces  of  it  ever 
with  them  ; — still,  they  were  all  absorbingly 
interesting  beyond  my  power  to  paint. 
Month  after  month  they  sat  together,  work- 
ing, playing,  helping,  growing — in  a  word 
learning  how  to  live,  and  there  in  the  midst 
of  the  group  was  I,  learning  my  life  lesson 
with  them. 

The  study  and  the  practice  of  the  kinder- 
garten theory  of  education  and  of  life  gave 
me,  while  1  was  still  very  young,  a  cer- 
tain ideal  by  which  to  live  and  work,  and 
42 


it  has  never  faded. — Never,  whether  richer 
or  poorer,  whether  better  or  worse,  in  sick- 
ness or  in  health,  in  prosperity  or  adversity, 
never  wholly  to  lose  my  glimpse  of  that 
"celestial  light"  that  childhood-apparalled 
"Meadow,  grove  and  stream,  the  earth  and 
every  common  sight :"  and  to  hold  that  at- 
titude of  mind  and  heart  which  gives  to 
life  even  when  it  is  difficult  something  of 
"the  glory  and  the  freshness  of  a  dream !" 


4:: 


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